PHILADELPHIA -- Jrue Holiday will play his first All-Star Game Sunday. Since there is no guarantee that there will be a second, Doug Collins gave him some advice.

"I always compare it to golf a little bit," the Sixers' coach said Tuesday at PCOM. "Sometimes, I can be on the most beautiful golf course in the world and be playing horrible golf and forget that I am on the most beautiful golf course in the world. Enjoy the golf course."

Enjoy every shot -- shanked, hooked or dropped in the hole. Enjoy every fairway, every trap, every ninth-hole snack bar.

"Look in that locker room," Collins said. "Look at who you are sitting with. You are 22 years old. Look around. Look at the men in that locker room with you. Look at your coach. Look at all those things. Look at the championships they have won. Look at the gold medals they have won. Look at their decoration. Watch how they prepare themselves.

"Michael Jordan had an internal body clock. And a certain time would come and it was, 'That's it. I am getting ready to play.' So it's, 'How do you get yourself in that moment every single night?' The biggest part about playing this game is getting yourself ready to play. Just watch. Pick it up. Talk to people. Talk to LeBron James. Talk to these guys that you admire. Enjoy the game. Enjoy the experience. When you are out, just look around and look at all the fans who love the NBA. I want him to take all that in. Your first -- there is nothing like it.

"Enjoy the golf course, man. You're playing Pebble Beach. If you hit eight in the water, forget it."

Holiday appreciated the counsel.

"Honestly, he told me to just take it all in," he said. "This is an experience. God willing, I will get back there again. But sometimes it is just a once-in-a-lifetime chance. So take it all in. Consume it all. And have fun. Have as much fun as you can."

Collins played in four All-Star games and might have doubled that total had he not had chronic foot injuries.

"My first one was doubly important to me, because it was in Philadelphia," he said. "It was 1976, the 'Bicentennial Game.' What I'd like Jrue to do is just walk in the locker room and take a look around. And I hope it is an experience he remembers forever."

Before bolting to Houston for the annual 164-163 consumption of empty basketball calories, Holiday will be in Milwaukee Wednesday, trying to help the Sixers win an important for-keeps game.

"I don't know that it is a playoff-type game," Holiday said. "It's more of an us-trying-to-get-into-a-playoff-type game. Obviously, we need to have this game to split the series. It's kind of a do or die. They are right in front of us. If it comes down to the end of the season and it's us and them, these are the games we have to get."

The Bucks have won the first two of the scheduled four regular-season games against the Sixers. They will visit the Wells Fargo Center March 27.

"So if they win this one," Collins warned, "they will have the tiebreaker against us. That's why it is so important for us to win."

In his two games since effectively replacing the injured Thad Young in the rotation, rookie Arnett Moultrie has been more than acceptable, shooting a combined 5-for-8 with 13 rebounds and 11 points in 40 total minutes.

The Sixers, though, need more.

"He's got to get in better condition," Collins said. "To play down in that paint, against those big guys, you've got to be in incredible shape. So he has to keep getting stronger. And his calling card has to be his activity. He has to be a high-activity guy. I tell him, 'Every time you screen on that ball, you should be rolling hard to that basket. That's where your sugar is.' Sometimes, he will set a screen and just kind of mosey. You have to roll. And even if he just rolls hard, he is going to take somebody with him, and that's going to open up somebody else.

"He has to keep rebounding the ball. He has to keep ducking in around the basket and scoring for us in there. Run the floor. Be aware of our defensive coverages. Against the Clippers, two or three times he got lost, which is to be expected. They did a couple things with the pick and roll and got him out of position a little bit. Just energy, activity, great conditioning, hit the open jump shot, roll to the basket, be aggressive."

The Sixers had a brief, closed but reportedly productive practice Tuesday.

Among the ignored topics: The 107-90 loss a night earlier to the Los Angeles Clippers.

"We had a really good practice," Collins said "Our guys were really engaged. We put the game behind us. We didn't even talk about it. We have to move forward. We have to have a good game going into the break.

"Will that translate to tomorrow? I don't know. We have had three of our best wins after three of our worst practices. I don't know with this group. That's the thing for me. I am still trying to figure out who this group is."

Collins was asked one question Tuesday. And he gave three answers.

The question: With the All-Star Game near, is it a good time for the Sixers to take a break?

The answer: "Yes." And then, "Yes." And then, "Yes."

The Sixers' coach has said the season has been the most challenging of his lengthy coaching career. But the Sixers are in the Eastern Conference chase, and could use some time to regroup before beginning a playoff push.

"I think we're all looking forward to getting away for a little bit," Spencer Hawes said, "and to charge up our bodies as well as our minds for a push as soon as we get back."